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Monday, September 10, 2012

Review: The Crown of Embers

THE CROWN OF EMBERS(Fire and Thorns #2)
Rae Careson
Young Adult/Fantasy
410 pages
Available September 18th
Greenwillow Books
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Amazon)
Elisa is a hero. She led her people to victory over a terrifying,
sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But
it isn't.

Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from
both foreign realms and within her own court. And her destiny as the
chosen one has not yet been fulfilled.

To conquer the power she
bears once and for all, Elisa must follow the trail of
long-forgotten--and forbidden--clues from the deep, undiscovered
catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her goes a
one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man who--despite everything--she is
falling in love with.

If she's lucky, she will return from this journey. But there will be a cost.

MY THOUGHTS
Returning us to a high fantasy world where a young woman struggles to discover who she is as a person, as a ruler, and as a chosen servant of God, The Crown of Embers does not leisurely reintroduce us to characters and story, instead it thrusts us right into the middle of action and political intrigue from chapter one. While we may stumble in the first few pages, our memories straining to recall the finer details of The Girl and Fire and Thorns, we quickly realize those details aren’t entirely necessary to guarantee our involvement in this second installment, and we easily slip into our roles as an eager and invested audience, reading raptly as Elisa’s world shifts on its axis.

Elisa is the young woman we remember from the very end of book one, a far cry from the girl overly fixated on weight and appearance she was in the beginning, having accepted her role as queen and diving headfirst into the political pit of vipers surrounding her. She’s been royalty all her life, but never before has the burden of decision-making been placed solely on her shoulders, and we sit back and smile proudly as she navigates dangerous waters, managing to avoid most of the resulting spray with a grace and aplomb she did not possess previously. She still reveals her young age on occasion, but the few times her spine of steel begins to bend only earns her more of our respect as she proves herself to be as much human as she is monarch.

The first book was predominantly a fantasy adventure, a romance present but so far in the background as to be almost unnoticeable, however in this second leg of Elisa’s journey, the romance with the Lord-Commander of the Royal Guard is far more prominent, the beautiful tension thrumming between proving to be one of the main elements that captivates us. Theirs is a relationship that builds so very slowly, a foundation of friendship quietly, and sometimes painfully, evolving into a fierce love that has us equal parts dreading and highly anticipating each chapter, wondering if their respective roles and the expectations they so stoically bear will prove too great an obstacle for them to overcome. Though Elisa is in a position of power over Hector, their connection never feels skewed or off-balance, rather both have a mutual respect for the other and prove again and again how willing they are to give their lives for the person they love.

Overall, The Crown of Embers is a sequel that gets off to a strong start and never relents, testing Elisa and company mentally and physically while emotionally challenging us as readers. Despite the seriousness of Elisa’s predicament as she desperately tries to rebuild her war-ravaged city even as the threat of battle hovers on her horizon, her interactions with Hector are often playful and rich with humor, bringing a smile to our faces even as we know they will be short lived. While we’re not left with a cliffhanger per se, events are definitely left unresolved, the next path laid out before us and our goals crystal clear as we look forward to seeing how our young queen will respond to the gauntlet thrown down by her enemies.

The first book was actually one of those books I didn't finish ;( And I was sad because I remember you said that it picked up in the last part of the book? Seeing that you now gave it such a high rating I might want to go back ... at some point.

I love when a sequel truly is even better than the first, it's something not happening so often..

I had such mixed feelings about the first book, but cant overlook the amazing writing!! I know Ill read this one, I want to find out how Elisa deals with all the nonsense thrown at her, and I still need to figure out what the heck is in her belly button, because it just seems painful.

YES! I loved that the romance was ramped up just a bit in this one - I wouldn't call it a romance by any means, but I liked that the romance felt like an actual part of the story instead of a very minor side element:)

Sometimes high fantasy can be hard to read, so I'm not sure how I'll feel about the first, but this one... you have me convinced to try it for the romance. Too bad fantasy is one genre you really should read out of order.... ;)

Awesome!! I love it when books start off with action from the START of the chapter!! Even though I havent read the first book yet, i should! This sounds awesome! Great review love!- Farah @MajiBookshelf

OHMYGOSH JENNY YOU REVIEWED THIS! I was SO excited when I saw your review up for this one, especially because I can't WAIT for it! I love how this one seems to focus more on Elisa and the politics she faces, as well as some of the more beautiful romance. It seems to be a wonderful follow-up and I am glad it fails to sink into the usual tropes of "second novels". Gosh, I just CANNOT WAIT till September 18th! While The Raven Boys is the FIRST thing I'll be reading that day, this is a close second! Fantastic review, darling! :)

YAY! I thought this was a great second installment, and I love how much Elisa is learning as she goes, she's so much stronger than she was in the beginning of book 1:) Can't wait to see what you think!

I haven't read this series. I guess I missed out on the first book, but it sounds like the second book really delivers. I love the way you describe the relationship between Elissa and the Lord Commander of the Royal Guard(that's a mouthful). Your review was beautiful and once again, makes me want to add both books to my TBR list. Great job!

I haven't read the first book but I only heard good things about it. So glad you loved this, Jenny! I like that the beginning is already action-packed and the romance is the subtle type. I think subtle romance is sometimes way better than accentuated romance. ;)

Lol, this is all I needed to know: "the romance with the Lord-Commander of the Royal Guard is far more prominent." I had a feeling those two would get together eventually and I'm so happy they do. I totally approve!

So excited for this one!! I have to say I am really, really psyched for the romance, because I totally shipped them in the first book, and I've heard such fab things about their relationship in this book. I'll definitely be re-reading the first book and checking this one out ASAP. Great review! =)